Hymns to the Mystic Fire

[8]

RV I.1.1-5

Rig Veda, First Mandala

Notes.

1) अग्निं। ईळे । पुरोहितं । यज्ञस्य । देवं । ऋत्विजं । होतारं । रत्नधातमं ॥

ईळे. To praise, in the ritualistic sense; but ईड् is a secondary

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root of ई and means to seek, go towards, attain, desire, adore, pray to, ask for (cf मातरमत्रमैट्ट). The former senses have been lost and only "to desire", "pray" or "ask for" are left in later Sanskrit; but the other senses must have existed, as the idea of desiring, asking is never a primary sense of any root, but derived figuratively from the physical sense "to go, seek, approach".We may therefore render ईळे either "seek", "desire", "adore" or "pray to".

पुरोहितं. Sayana, "Purohit", or else "placed in the front of the sacrifice as the Ahavaniya fire". The Purohita of the Veda is the representative power in the sacrifice who stands in front of the consciousness and the action and conducts it. This is always the force of the "placing in front" which is so common an idea in the hymns. Normally this place belongs to Agni who leads the sacrifice.

देवं. Sy. दनादिगुणयुक्तं. Sayana's dealing with the word देवः is peculiar; sometimes he renders it simply "god", sometimes he gives it some root value, दान, देवन, sometimes he makes it mean the priest. There is not a single passage in the Veda where the ordinary sense "god", "divine being" does not give a clear and sufficient & the best sense. No doubt, the Vedic poets never left out of sight its root meaning; the gods are the Shining Ones, the Lords of Light as are the Dasyus the Dark or Black Ones, the sons of Darkness.

ऋत्विजं. "He who sacrifices at the right season" is the outward or ritualistic sense; but ऋतु in the Veda, as we shall see, is the order of the truth, its arranged law, time, circumstance. Agni is the representative priest who sacrifices according to the law, order, season of the Ritam.

होतारं. Sy. "because he utters the Mantra" and he quotes अहं होता स्तौमि; but he renders it sometimes आहूाता, sometimes होमनिष्पादकः, sometimes gives us the choice. Undoubtedly होता is the priest of the oblation, who gives the offering, हु to offer, and not हू to call. The hymn was an attendant circumstance of the offering, therefore the invocation or praise might also fall to

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the part of the होता; but in the system of the Rigveda the proper name for the reciter of the Mantra is ब्रह्मा. Agni is the Hotri, Brihaspati the Brahma.

रत्न. Sy. यागफलरूपाणां रत्नानामतिशयेन धारयितारं पोषयितारं वा. धा to hold and धा to nourish (cf धात्री nurse). But in other passages he takes रत्न = रमणीयं धनं which shows that he took it to mean literally "that which is delightful" and made it = wealth, as he makes दयुम्न = "that which is shining" and renders it "wealth". We need not follow him. रत्नं means "delight" or Ananda (cf रम्, रतिः, रण्, रण्व, राध्, रंज् etc) just as दयुम्नं means "light". धा is to hold or else to place.

Ritualistic sense

I praise Agni the Purohit (or, who is set in front) of the sacrifice, the god (or, bountiful), the Ritwik, the Hota who holds very much wealth.

Psychological

I seek the God-Will, the priest set in front of our sacrifice, the divine offerer who sacrifices in the order of the truth, who disposes utterly the delight.

2) अग्निः । पूर्वेभिः । ऋषिभिः । ईड्यः । नूतनैः । उत । स । देवाँ । इह । वक्षति ॥

ऋषिः Lit. "seeker, attainer" so "knower" from ऋष् to go.

इह देवाँ—the divine powers into the mortal life and mortal being.

वक्षति. वह् + स् + ति. This स seems to have been either frequentative in force, "he constantly or habitually bears", or intensive, "he entirely bears", or desiderative, "he wills or intends to bear". From the latter sense we have the use of स for the future, cf S. नी, नेष्यामि, Greek luo, I loose, luso, I shall loose, and English, I will go, where the desiderative will = wish, intend, has acquired the sense of a simple future.

"The God-Will is desirable as to the ancient sages, so to the new, for 'tis he that bringeth here the gods."

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3) अग्निना । रयिं । अश्रवत् । पोषं । एव । दिवे । दिवे । यशसं । वीरवत्तमं ॥

अश्रवत्. Sy. प्राप्नोति—but the form gives a certain semi-imperative sense or the idea of a rule of action or law of occurrence. "He shall attain." अश्, to possess, have, obtain, enjoy—Gr. echo, I have.

यशसं. Sy. दानादिना यशोयुक्तं—so famous; but "a famous and man-fullest wealth" seems an absurd way of talking. यश् is literally to go, strive towards, attain; here it means success, fame; also from another sense "to shine" = splendour. It is connected in sense with या, यत्, यस्. We have in the Veda रयि, wealth or felicity, often described as expansive, pervading, breaking down obstacles on the way. There is therefore no inappropriateness or violence in rendering it "enjoyment that attains" or "a victorious riches".

वीरवत्तमं. Sy. अतिशयेन पुत्रभुत्यादिवीरपुरुषोपेतं. It is absurd to take वीर = पुत्र as Sayana does; it means "men, heroes, strengths" and is often the equivalent of नृ which is never used for servants in the Rigveda.

रयिं. There are two words रयि, from रि to go and from रि to attain, enjoy. The latter means "enjoyment" or the things enjoyed, "felicity, prosperity, riches". The former sense is found in the Upanishad where रयि movement or matter is opposed to प्राण life.

Ritualistic

By Agni one attains a wealth daily increasing, famous and most full of men.

Psychological

By the God-Will one shall enjoy a felicity that shall increase day by day, victorious, fullest of hero-powers.

4) अग्ने । यं । यज्ञं । अध्वरं । विश्वतः । परिभूः । असि । स । इद् । देवेषु । गच्छति ॥

अध्वरं. Sy. हिंसारहितं because it is not destroyed by the Rakshasas, from अ privative + ध्वर (ध्वृ to hurt). But अध्वर is used

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by itself to mean sacrifice and it is quite impossible that the word "unhurt" used by itself can have come to mean sacrifice. It must express some essential quality of the sacrifice or it could not thus have been singled out. It is a notable fact that अध्वर is continually used for the sacrifice when there is a question of the sacrifice travelling or moving on the path towards the gods, as here. I therefore take अध्वर from an original Rt अध् to move, & connect it with अध्वन् path; it means the moving or travelling sacrifice, the sacrifice regarded as a pilgrimage of the soul or its gifts towards the gods.

Ritualistic

O Agni, the unhurt sacrifice that thou encompassest on all sides, that goes to the gods.

Psychological

O God-Will, whatsoever sacrifice on the path thou encompassest with thy being on every side, that indeed arrives to the gods.

5) अग्निः । होता । कविकतुः । सत्यः । चित्रश्रवस्तमः । देवो । देवेभिः । आगमत् ॥

कविकतुः. Sayana takes कवि here = क्रांत and क्रतुः = either knowledge or work. It means then "the priest whose work or whose knowledge moves". But there is absolutely no reason to take कवि in any other than its natural & invariable sense. कवि is the seer, the one who has the divine or supramental knowledge. क्रतु from कृ or rather old root क्र to divide, to do, make, shape, work. From the sense "divide" comes that of the discerning mind, Sy's प्रज्ञान; cf Grk. krites, judge etc; and this is the sense of karuttu in Tamil which means mind. But from the sense "to do", क्रतु means (1) work, (2) power of work, strength, cf Grk. kratos, strength, (3) will or working force of the mind. For this last sense, cf Isha Upanishad क्रतो कृतं स्मर where the collocation क्रतो कृतं shows that that power of the mind is meant which conducts or dictates the work or action. Agni is the divine Seer-Will that works with the perfect supramental knowledge.

सत्यः. Sayana explains "true in its fruits"; but the collocation

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of "seer will" and श्रवः inspired knowledge indicates rather the sense "true in his being"& therefore true in knowledge श्रवः and in will क्रतुः. श्रवः is the supramental knowledge called the Truth, ऋतं, the vijnana of the Upanishads; कविऋतुः means having the will that is full of that knowledge, the vijnanamaya will, the divine Âjnana; सत्यः means "vijnanamaya in his substance".

चित्रश्रवस्तमः. Sy. having most varied kinds of fame,—an insipid & meaningless epithet for a god. श्रवः is used like श्रुति to indicate the inspired hymn; it must therefore be capable of meaning inspired knowledge. There are two kinds of supramental knowledge, दृष्टि & श्रुति, sight & hearing, revelation and inspiration, but श्रवः is usually used to indicate the knowledge gained by the supramental faculties.

Ritualistic

Agni, the priest, who sets in motion the knowledge (or work), true in his fruit, very varied in his fame, may he come a god with the gods.

Psychological

The God-Will, priest of our offering, true in his being, with the will of the seer, with richest variety of inspired knowledge, may he come to us divine with the powers divine.